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Toddler's in-home elevator accident leads Georgia officials to urge re-inspection
An Atlanta toddler is lucky to be alive after he fell down an elevator shaft in his family's home. Now Fox 5 I-Team's Dana Fowle has learned exclusively what caused this elevator to malfunction and how it may affect dozens of in-home elevators across Georgia.
ATLANTA - An Atlanta toddler who fell down an in-home elevator shaft is truly lucky to be alive. The Brown family had one installed in their new home, in part, because of their aging parents. Never did they expect it to put the youngest member of the household in danger.
The Fox 5 I-Team has learned that nearly 50 of these same elevator systems might be installed statewide. And the state has an urgent message: Take them all out of service immediately and re-inspect them.
A nightmare day
On the morning of Feb. 2, Alia Brown left the house and left her toddler with the sitter. But her rush-hour drive home would be filled with panic and later what she calls a miracle. She sat down exclusively with the FOX 5 I-Team because of our 10-year track record of reporting on the emergence of residential elevators and the dangers that can come with them.
"It was a pretty standard Thursday for me. I was on my way home," she said.
She was on the phone with her sitter. Just a few feet away were 2-year-old Jace and his dad.
"She let out the largest, loudest wail I've ever heard, and the phone went dead," Brown said.
Alia called back. Frantic. Nothing. Minutes passed. Finally, her husband Julian picked up.
"He says 'There's been a terrible accident. Get here now. It's really bad,'" Brown said. "He says ‘Call 911.’"
So she did.
In the 911 recording her distress is clear: "Please! My son fell down the elevator shaft. He's 2 years old."
Alia Brown
Jace, with two adults just a few feet away, had opened a hallway door and fallen from the second story down to the basement in an open elevator shaft. She said the door easily pulled open. It wasn't locked, although it should have been. If the elevator car is not on that floor, the door is not supposed to open. According to the state incident report, the locking system "failed."
"They look down and see him lying on the top of the elevator car," Brown told FOX 5's Dana Fowle.
He had fallen almost 15 feet. Neighbors rushed in to help. Julian Brown ran to the main floor's elevator door hoping to reach his son from there. He said he expected to have to pull the door from its hinges because it should have been locked. But once again, it easily opened.
"It just kind of flung open," Alia Brown said incredulously. "That let us know we are dealing with a locking system that has failed twice."
Meantime, baby Jace had now slid over the edge of the car, head down. He was wedged between the 780-pound car and the wall.
Elevator passed inspection two days earlier
The Browns had just moved into this Buckhead home. The elevator system passed inspection on Jan. 31. Two days later the safety system failed them.
"Fire and rescue came, and they had to kind of heroically cut him out of the house," Alia Brown said.
Jace was rushed to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. He was treated for head injuries, concussion, and lacerations. The state's final report says, he "sustained serious bodily injury." He is at home now recovering.
Jace Brown (Courtesy of the family)
Brown explained why she has come forward.
"This story should be told because no one should ever go through this type of trauma. I mean, this could've happened to an adult, or an older person or at night. It could've happened to anybody," she said.
The next day state investigators wrote that the unit had a "fastener failure." Ten wood screws, half an inch long pushed into a quarter-inch medium-density fiberboard "failed to hold the locking mechanism securely." Those screws were found in the elevator well.
The unit was manufactured by Bella Elevator, and installed by American Elevator of Atlanta. The FOX 5 I-Team has reached out to both companies, but no one has returned our calls or emails. But state investigators tell us that 48 elevators in Georgia may have the same wood-screw locking system that the Insurance Commissioner's Office calls "inadequate and unsafe"
American Elevator of Atlanta has been ordered to "notify every homeowner" "to place them out of service immediately until an approved modification is installed." The company has also been fined $5,000.
The FOX 5 I-Team asked state investigators if homeowners had been notified yet of these elevators that may have issues. We were told American Elevator of Atlanta had not given them any indication yet that this had been done. The state isn't sure if they've been reinspected either. Additionally, we are told they have not paid the fine.
The Insurance Commissioner's office says they are "very disappointed with this lack of action and are evaluating our potential next steps."
While investigators do their job, the Browns, a tight-knit family, are hugging each other closely.
"It's not lost on me that he's a miracle," said Alia Brown.